Bharatiya Vidya Mandir Sodh Pratisthan
An Innovative Dimension
योग: कर्मसु कौशलम्
Bharatiya Vidya Mandir was established in Bikaner on 19 August (Raksha Bandhan) 1948 AD, as a night school (changed name – Seth Girdhardas Mundhra Night School) with the objective of providing education to the refugees coming to Bikaner due to the tragedy of partition of the country in 1947 and the local poor and working youth and in this, education was given to youth above 16 years of age and adult working people for the desired qualification for self-reliance and employment. 20000 students benefited from this night school by passing various examinations. In 1949, child education was also started under it through Montessori equipment, modern curriculum and psychological teaching method. For this purpose, Girdhardas Mundhra Bal Bharti Primary School and Girdhardas Mundhra Bal Bharti Secondary School are currently running in Bikaner where students are given education at a minimum fee. About 28000 students have benefited from these schools.
About 10 years after the establishment of Bharatiya Vidya Mandir, on 1 July 1959, another dimension was added to the institution in the form of the establishment of Bharatiya Vidya Mandir Shodh Pratishthan, under whose aegis the work of searching and collecting ancient handwritten texts, conversations, ancient literature, folk literature etc. began and research work related to Indian civilization-culture, history-archaeology, language-literature, folk literature, art-folk art, religion-philosophy etc. began. After a few years, external researchers also started coming to the institution and doing their research work. It is noteworthy that till now about 225 PhD and D.Litt degree researchers from various universities have benefited from the institution for their research work, which also includes renowned critics-professors like Dr. Namvar Singh, Dr. Hiralal Maheshwari etc. The institute has a rich library related to the above subjects in which 2000 handwritten books and 13000 printed reference books and old magazines like Saraswati, Chand, Madhuri, Varada as well as files of various research journals are available. From 1971, the institute started publishing a quarterly research journal named “Vaichariki”. In the same sequence, publication of books also started and the following books were published – Gogaji Chauhan Ri Rajasthani Gatha, Ancient Kavyon Ki Roop Parampara, Nagdaman, Chand Rau Jaitsi Rau, Ranmall Chand, Marudhara Ro Italian Mobhi, Mouktik, Amiya Halahal Mad Bhare, Alakhiya Sampraday, Raso Sahitya and Prithviraj Raso, Bharatiya Tattva Chintan, Jambhoji Ki Vaani, Dharma Vijay, Rajasthani Lok Mahabharat, Sukhi Jeevan, Raso Vai Sah, Krishnavtar and Vaman Virat.
In 2005, Simplex Infrastructures Limited, Kolkata extended its courtesy to Bharatiya Vidya Mandir, due to which the publication department of Bharatiya Vidya Mandir was shifted to Kolkata. After this transfer, Vaichariki Shodh Patrika was made bimonthly from April-May 2010, of which 6000 copies are published and distributed at present. Similarly, the work of publishing books also expanded, due to which the following books have been published by the organization till now – INDIAN CULTURE (8 VOL.), HOLY GANGA, UNDERGROUND SHRINE, HUMAN VALUES, WISDOM OF UPANISHADS, ANSU (Tears), ROSARY OF HYMNS, PRAMLOCHA, KAMAYANI, Kannada version of HUMAN VALUES, Upanishad Rahasya, Meerabai, Gangaur Gavarja, Rajasthani folk tales, World’s time journey, Vaishnava religion in ancient Rajasthan, Shri Dhruv Charitra, Hindi Literature: Bengali Role, Human Values, Chanakya Niti, Nitya Kirtan Ras Ratnakar, Happy Life (Hindi-English), Story of Shri Ram Katha (Part-I and II) and Janmotsav- Vedic Vidhi. The following books are under publication- Bhagwat Dharma in Rajasthan, Rajasthani Raag-Rang, Bengali version of Happy Life, Indian Culture (8 volumes).
